First off, you can spend them like real money, even if they look like
board game currency.

Second, if you dont get rid of them before heading back home, you
can redeem them at any Army and Air Force Exchange Service store worldwide.

Third, if you dont want them, give them to someone else, keep them
as souvenirs or start a collection. Whatever you do, dont throw
them away!

Fourth, when in doubt, refer back to the first sentence.

Pogs  the small, round, coated-paper gift certificates issued by
Army and Air Force Exchange Service facilities supporting operations Enduring
and Iraqi Freedom in place of metal coins  have been given to Soldiers
in lieu of metal currency since 2001.

During wartime operations, the priority for shipping is for mission-essential
items  food, but this doesnt extend to coins. Paper money
weighs less than metal coins and printing currency is against the law,
so, at the request of the Department of Defense, AAFES thought outside
the box and developed the Pogs to satisfy the requirement for change,
explained Accetta.

Now, a couple years and designs later, more than a million dollarsworth
of Pogs have been printed and distributed. The
first Pog designs were basic with only the monetary amount printed on
them. New designs include powerful images featuring OEF/OIF action. A
series of 36 designs that are both captivating and relevant to operations
in the Middle East are in currently in circulation.

Although people who dont like or understand them throw away the
Pogs, lots of people do use them as change, Accetta said. Some even take
them home as souvenirs. Recently AAFES discovered that the Pogs were being
sold on E-Bay as collectors items.

Since World War II, when servicemembers deployed to a combat situation,
AAFES wasnt too far behind them, bringing a touch of home. From
hygiene items and clothes to snacks and electronics, AAFES moves out front
to improve the quality of life of our servicemen and women.

Today, AAFES has nine stores in Kuwait and 30 in Iraq, with about 450
associates deployed at any given time. Those
associates live and work right alongside the deployed troops.

AAFES supports approximately 90 unit-run Imprest Fund activities that
serve forward operating bases where it is too
remote or the population isnt large enough to support a store. An
Imprest Fund is basically a troop-operated store where the unit establishes
an account and buys merchandise in bulk from AAFES and then sells that
merchandise to troops at the same AAFES prices.

AAFES also conducts Rodeos to bring merchandise to remote
locations periodically to allow troops to get a touch of home.
Essentially, when the Soldiers cant get to the PX/BX, AAFES brings
the PX/BX to them.

Additionally, AAFES runs 37 call centers throughout Operations Iraqi
and Enduring Freedom where deployed troops can go to make a call home
to their loved ones.

AAFES truly goes where service members go to provide quality service
at the best price to the best customers in the world.

The History of Pogs

In the 1930s, 40s and 50s, kids in Hawaii collected milk caps from all
the different dairies.

In 1991 Blossom Galbiso, a counselor at Waialua Elementary School in
Hawaii, brought the milk caps back to life. The milk cap game is played
by two-or-more players on any flat surface. Each player places an equal
number of milk caps on the stack, art side up.

One player goes first and throws another milk cap or a hitter, often
called the slammer, at the stack trying to flip over as many caps as possible.